Georgia's two home losses this season have followed a similar script.

The Bulldogs build a sizable lead only to see it melt away in the game's final minutes. It happened the first time on January 13 against Tennessee in an 85-79 home defeat.

On Wednesday night, Georgia failed to close again. The Bulldogs (14-7, 4-4 SEC) squandered a 14-point halftime lead in an 85-76 loss to No. 24 Alabama (15-6, 7-1) at Stegeman Coliseum.

"That’s the difference between us being 4-4 and 6-2," guard Noah Thomasson said of Georgia's difficulty playing a 40-minute game. "We just have to learn how to keep playing and not necessarily look at the score, keep doing the little things that got us the lead in the first place."

Georgia led by as many as 13 in the second half. A floater from Blue Cain put the Bulldogs up 57-44 with 10:48 remaining in the game.

Alabama then outscored Georgia by 22 points the rest of the way.

"Transition defense, setting our halfcourt defense in the second half was ineffective," Georgia head coach Mike White said. "We just did a poor job off of free throws, off of makes, off of misses. Our urgency level wasn’t the same as it was in the first 20 against a team that is as good in the first few seconds of the clock as anyone in the country. They capitalized. A couple free-throw line block-outs haunted us. But a couple (Mark) Sears threes in the right corner, at the top of the key late, were huge shots. I thought he was fantastic defensively as well, as all those guys were, particularly in the second half. As well as we played defensively in the first half, we just weren’t as sharp in the second 20. You can’t beat a good team with that type of effort defensively."

Georgia struggled to take care of the ball all night. The Bulldogs finished the night with 19 turnovers, a new season high. Eight of those came in the game's final 20 minutes as the Bulldogs tried to cling to a lead.

"Turning the ball over is like layups for them, 3-pointers for them," Thomasson said. "They’re a really good offensive team, high-powered offensive team. The more we turn the ball over, the more they’re able to get out in transition and get to their shooters and knock down shots."

The game swung in Alabama's favor for good as the clock ticked under six minutes. The Crimson Tide hit a pair of contested 3-pointers to tie the game with 5:34 remaining. Alabama then took its first lead on a Grant Nelson bucket with 4:47 left.

Nelson then put the Bulldogs away with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions in the closing minutes.

The deep ball helped Georgia build its big lead in the first place. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 17-2 lead and led 41-27 at halftime. Georgia connected on 7-of-13 on 3-pointers in the first half.

"We were getting in the paint," Thomasson said. "Different guys were finding the open guys, and we were knocking down our shots. Second half, Alabama did a good job of trying to eliminate threes as much as possible."

Georgia returns to action this Saturday when it hosts South Carolina at 1:00.

News and Notes

RJ Melendez followed up a career game against Florida with a double-double, his second of the season. He recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Four Bulldogs (Melendez, Noah Thomasson, Silas Demary Jr., and Russel Tchewa) scored in double figures.

Melendez started in place of RJ Sunahara, who had started the previous 10 games.

Georgia didn't make a 3-pointer in the second half, missing all four attempts.